Where is Peter Leshchenko's son Ikki. Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko - pop singer

1898. In the “father” column there is an entry: “illegitimate.” Godparents: nobleman Alexander Ivanovich Krivosheev and noblewoman Katerina Yakovlevna Orlova. Peter's mother had absolute musical ear, knew a lot of folk songs and sang well, which had a due influence on the formation of the personality of Peter, who early childhood also discovered extraordinary musical abilities. The mother’s family, together with 9-month-old Peter, moved to Chisinau, where about nine years later the mother married dental technician Alexei Vasilyevich Alfimov. Pyotr Leshchenko spoke Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, French and German.

Pyotr Leshchenko wrote about himself:

At the age of 9 months, he and his mother, as well as her parents, moved to live in the city of Chisinau. Until 1906, I grew up and was raised at home, and then, as I had talent for dancing and music, I was taken into the soldiers’ church choir. The director of this choir, Kogan, later assigned me to the 7th People's Parish School in Chisinau. At the same time, the regent of the bishop's choir, Berezovsky, drew attention to me and assigned me to the choir. Thus, by 1915 I received a general and musical education. In 1915, due to a change in my voice, I could not participate in the choir and was left without funds, so I decided to go to the front. He got a job as a volunteer in the 7th Don Cossack Regiment and served there until November 1916. From there I was sent to the infantry school for warrant officers in the city of Kyiv, from which I graduated in March 1917, and I was awarded the rank of warrant officer. After graduating from the mentioned school, through the 40th reserve regiment in Odessa, he was sent to the Romanian front and enlisted in the 55th Podolsk Infantry Regiment of the 14th Infantry Division as a platoon commander. In August 1917, on the territory of Romania, he was seriously wounded and shell-shocked - and was sent to a hospital, first to a field hospital, and then to the city of Chisinau.

Wanting to improve his dance technique, Leshchenko entered the ballet school Trefilova, who was considered one of the best in France. At school he met the artist Zhenya (Zinaida) Zakitt from Riga, a Latvian. Peter and Zinaida learned several dance numbers and began performing as a duet in Parisian restaurants, with great success. Soon the dance duet became married couple :168 .

In February 1926, in Paris, Leshchenko accidentally met an acquaintance from Bucharest, Yakov Voronovsky. He was about to leave for Sweden - and offered Leshchenko his place as a dancer in the Normandy restaurant. Until the end of April 1926, Leshchenko performed in this restaurant.

Tour. Publishing records. First success (1926-1933)

Polish musicians, who previously worked in a restaurant in Chernivtsi and had a contract with a Turkish theater in the city of Adana, invite Peter Leshchenko and Zakitt to go on tour with them. From May 1926 to August 1928, the family duo toured the countries of Europe and the Middle East - Constantinople, Adana, Smyrna (here Leshchenko married Zakitt in July 1926), Beirut, Damascus, Aleppo, Athens, Thessaloniki.

In 1928, the Leshchenko couple returned to Romania and entered the Bucharest Teatrul Nostra. Then they go to Riga, on the occasion of the death of his wife's father. We stayed in Riga for two weeks and moved to Chernivtsi, where we worked at the Olgaber restaurant for three months. Then - moving to Chisinau. Until the winter of 1929, the Leshchenko spouses performed at the London restaurant, in Summer Theater and cinemas. Then - Riga, where until December 1930 Pyotr Leshchenko worked alone in the A.T. cafe. He only left for a month at the invitation of the Smaltsov dancers to Belgrade.

When Zinaida became pregnant, their dance duet broke up. Looking for an alternative way to make money, Leshchenko turned to his vocal abilities:170. In January 1931, Peter and Zhenya had a son, Igor (Ikki) Leshchenko (Igor Petrovich Leshchenko (1931-1978), son of Peter Leshchenko from his first marriage, choreographer of the Opera and Ballet Theater in Bucharest).

Theatrical agent Duganov arranged for Leshchenko to go to concerts in Libau for a month. At the same time, Leshchenko enters into a contract with the summer restaurant “Jurmala”. He spent the entire summer of 1931 with his family in Libau. Upon returning to Riga, he again works at the A.T. cafe. At this time, the singer met the composer Oscar Strok, the creator of tangos, romances, foxtrots and songs. Leshchenko performed and recorded the composer’s songs: “Black Eyes”, “Blue Rhapsody”, “Tell Why” and other tangos and romances. He also worked with other composers, in particular with Mark Maryanovsky, the author of “Tatyana”, “Miranda”, “Nastya-Yagodka”.

The owner of a music store in Riga, whose last name was Yunosha, in the fall of 1931 invited Leshchenko to go to Berlin for ten days to record songs at the Parlophon company. Leshchenko also enters into a contract with the Romanian branch of the English recording company Columbia (about 80 songs have been recorded). The singer's records are published by Parlophone Records (Germany), Electrecord (Romania), Bellaccord (Latvia).

From Romanian sources: Peter Leshchenko was in Zhilava from March 1951, then in July 1952 he was transferred to the distribution center in Capul Midia, from there on August 29, 1953 to Borgesti. On May 21 or 25, 1954 he was transferred to the Targu Ocna prison hospital. He underwent surgery for an open stomach ulcer.

There is a protocol of the interrogation of Pyotr Leshchenko, from which it is clear that in July 1952, Pyotr Leshchenko was transported to Constanta (near Capul Midia) and interrogated as a witness in the case of Vera Belousova-Leshchenko, who was accused of treason. According to the memoirs of Vera Belousova-Leshchenko (heard in the documentary film “Film of Memory. Pyotr Leshchenko”), she was allowed only one date with her husband. Peter showed his black (from work or from beatings?) hands to his wife and said: “Faith! I’m not to blame for anything, nothing!!!” They never met again.

P. K. Leshchenko died in the Romanian prison hospital Targu Ocna on July 16, 1954. The materials on Leshchenko’s case are still closed.

In July 1952, Vera Belousova-Leshchenko was arrested. She was accused of marrying a foreign national, which was qualified as treason (Article 58-1 “A” of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, criminal case No. 15641-p). Vera Belousova-Leshchenko was sentenced to death on August 5, 1952, which was commuted to 25 years in prison, but was released in 1954: “Prisoner Belousova-Leshchenko is to be released with her criminal record expunged and travel to Odessa on July 12, 1954,” an order with reference to the resolution Plenum of the Supreme Court of the USSR, the first link is about reducing the term to 5 years in accordance with the Resolution of the Supreme Court of June 1954, and the second is “to be released from custody.”

Leshchenko's widow managed to obtain the only information from Romania: LESCENCO, PETRE. ARTIST. ARESTAT. A MURIT ON TIMPUL DETENIEI, LA. PENITENCIARUL TÂRGU OCNA.(LESHCHENKO, PETER. ARTIST. PRISONER. DIED WHILE STAYING IN TIRGU-OKNA PRISON). (From the “Book of the Repressed,” published in Bucharest)

Vera Leshchenko died in Moscow in 2009.

The biography was compiled according to the interrogation protocols of Pyotr Leshchenko and archival documents provided by the widow of Pyotr Leshchenko, Vera Leshchenko.

Memory

In the USSR, Pyotr Leshchenko was under an unspoken ban. His name was not mentioned in the Soviet media. However, many remembered him. One of the evidence of the singer’s posthumous fame is contained in the memoirs of journalist Mikhail Devletkamov:

...In the spring of 1980, I was traveling to the capital on a crowded Dubna-Moscow train. A shaven-headed, strongly built old man in a black padded jacket who sat down in Dmitrov was loudly talking about something to an elderly couple. The badge of the Third Ukrainian Front was on a worn quilted jacket... “But for such words you can end up in Siberia!” - his interlocutor suddenly said to the veteran... The train was approaching Yakhroma. Outside the window floated the majestic ruins of the Church of the Intercession, built in 1803 (the church has now been restored)... “But I’m not afraid of Siberia! - exclaimed the old man - “Now, remember how Leshchenko sang, But I’m not afraid of Siberia, Siberia is also Russian land! peasants...

Newspaper “Dignity”, No. 12 / 2000

IN post-war years In Moscow, on the wave of the popularity of Pyotr Leshchenko, an entire underground company for the production and distribution of records “under Leshchenko” successfully flourished. The backbone of the company was the so-called “Tabachnikov Jazz” (composer Boris Fomin also worked there at one time) and its soloist Nikolai Markov, whose voice was almost identical to the voice of the famous singer. Behind a short time Forty works from Leshchenko’s repertoire were recorded, including “Cranes”, which had nothing to do with him. The records were distributed mainly in Ukraine, in Moldova... One musician from the Tobacco Jazz spoke about this: “We take a suitcase of records there, and a suitcase of money back...” Officially, Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko’s records were not sold in stores, because they were not released, and the singer’s voice sounded in almost every home. Genuine or fake - you guessed it.

B. A. Savchenko. Retro stage. - M.: Art, 1996, p. 220.

Revival of popularity in 1988

There was no official permission for the voice of Pyotr Konstantinovich to appear on air in the late 80s of the 20th century; they simply stopped banning it. Recordings of songs performed by Leshchenko began to be heard on Soviet radio. Then programs and articles appeared about him. In 1988, the Melodiya company released the record “Pyotr Leshchenko Sings,” which was called the sensation of the month. In May, the disc took 73rd place in the all-Union hit parade, and within a couple of weeks it came out on top in popularity among the giant discs. For the first time legally, Pyotr Leshchenko was named the best.

“A sensation began to brew when our correspondents from many cities in the country began to receive information about the enormous interest of music lovers in the record of Pyotr Leshchenko, a famous chansonnier of the 1930s. Few could have imagined that the disc, which took 73rd place in May, would rapidly move up to the top of popularity in June, and eventually take first place in the All-Union hit parade...

This is what the top ten of the popularity table among giant disks looks like (last month’s position is indicated in brackets):

1. (73) P. Leshchenko.
2. (8) Group “Alice”, disc “Energy”.
3. (5) Rainbow Group.
4. (15) Group “Bravo”.
5. (−) Archive popular music. Issue 4 (Rolling Stones).
6. (13) Group “Aquarium”, disc “Equinox”.
7. (−) Yuri Loza.
8. (−) Oscar Peterson.
9. (2) Leningrad rock club.
10. (9) Laima Vaikule sings.”

In cinema

Biographical films

Using songs

• 1996 - Animated film Funny pictures. Fantasy in retro style (director R. Kobzarev, scriptwriter R. Kobzarev) - song “Gypsy”.
• - Animated film Pink Doll (director V. Olshvang, scriptwriter N. Kozhushanaya) - song “Lola”.

In toponymy

• In Chisinau there is a street, as well as an alley, bearing his name.

Discography

Gramophone records (78 rpm)

Columbia (UK - France)

• For guitar picking (romance, folk music) / Sing, gypsies (romance) (Columbia orchestra)
• Confess to me (tango, music by Arthur Gold) / Sleep, my poor heart (tango, O. Strok and J. Altschuler) (Columbia orchestra)
• Stay (tango, music by E. Hoenigsberg) / Miranda (tango, music by M. Maryanovsky) (Hoenigsberg - Hecker orchestra)
• Anikusha (tango, Claude Romano) / Mercy (“I forgive everything for love”, waltz, N. Vars) (Hoenigsberg - Hecker orchestra)
• Don't go (tango, E. Sklyarov) / Sashka (foxtrot, M. Halm) (Honigsberg - Hecker orchestra)
• I would love to love so much (tango, E. Sklyarov - N. Mikhailova) / Misha (foxtrot, G. Vilnov) (Honigsberg - Hecker orchestra)
• Boy (folk) / In the circus (everyday, N. Mirsky - Kolumbova - P. Leshchenko) (Honigsberg orchestra - Hecker)
• Near the Forest (gypsy waltz, Hoenigsberg-Hecker orchestra) / Ditties (harmonica accompaniment - brothers Ernst and Max Hoenigsberg)
• Andryusha (foxtrot, Z. Bialostotsky) / Troshka (household) (Honigsberg - Hecker orchestra)
• Who are you (slow fox, M. Maryanovsky) / Alyosha (foxtrot, J. Korologos) (J. Korologos orchestra)
• My Friend (English Waltz, M. Halme) / Serenade (C. Sierra Leone) (Columbia Orchestra)
• Heart (tango, I. O. Dunaevsky, arrangement F. Salabert - Ostrowsky) / March from the film “Jolly Fellows” (I. O. Dunaevsky, Ostrowsky) (orchestra)
• Horses (foxtrot) / Ha-cha-cha (foxtrot, Werner Richard Heymann) (J. Korologos orchestra)
• Tatyana (tango, M. Maryanovsky, Hoenigsberg orchestra) / Nastenka (foxtrot, Traian Cornea, J. Korologos orchestra)
• Cry, gypsy (romance) / You're driving drunk (romance) (Honigsberg orchestra)
• Mother's Heart (tango, music by Z. Karasiński and S. Kataszek, Hönigsberg Orchestra) / Caucasus (oriental foxtrot, music by M. Maryanowski, J. Korologos Orchestra)
• Musenka (tango, lyrics and music by Oscar Strok, Hönigsberg Orchestra) / Dunya (Pancakes, foxtrot, music by M. Maryanovsky, J. Korologos Orchestra)
• Forget you (tango, S. Shapirov) / Let's say goodbye (tango romance) (Honigsberg orchestra)
• Capricious, stubborn (romance, Alexander Koshevsky, Hoenigsberg orchestra) / My Marusechka (foxtrot, G. Vilnov, J. Korologos orchestra and balalaika quartet “Baikal”)
• Gloomy Sunday (Hungarian song, Rézső Szeres)/Blue Rhapsody (slow fox, Oskar Strok) (Honigsberg Orchestra)
• Komarik (Ukrainian folk song) / Karii ochi (Ukrainian song) - in Ukrainian. language, guitar, with accomp. Orchestra of Hoenigsberg
• Foggy at heart (E. Sklyarov, Nadya Kushnir) / March from the film “Circus” (I. O. Dunaevsky, V. I. Lebedev-Kumach) (orchestra conducted by N. Chereshni)
• Don’t Leave (tango, O. Strock) / Vanya (foxtrot, Shapirov - Leshchenko - Fedotov) (orchestra conducted by N. Chereshny)
• Ancient waltz (words and music by N. Listov) / Glasses (words by G. Gridov, music by B. Prozorovsky) (orchestra conducted by N. Chereshny)
• Captain / Sing to us, wind (songs from the film “Children of Captain Grant”, I. O. Dunaevsky - V. I. Lebedev-Kumach, orchestra conducted by N. Chereshny)
• How good / Ring (romances, Olga Frank - Sergei Frank, arr. J. Azbukin, orchestra conducted by N. Chereshny)
• Vanka dear / Nastya sells berries (foxtrots, music and lyrics by M. Maryanovsky, orchestra conducted by N. Chereshny)
• Blue Eyes (tango, lyrics and music by Oscar Strok) / Wine of Love (tango, lyrics and music by Mark Maryanovsky) (orchestra by Frank Fox)
• Black Eyes (tango, lyrics and music by Oscar Strok) / Stanochek (folk song, lyrics by Timofeev, music by Boris Prozorovsky) (orchestra by Frank Fox)
• What sorrow is mine (gypsy romance) / Gypsy life (camp, music by D. Pokrass) (Frank Fox orchestra)
• A glass of vodka (foxtrot on a Russian motif, words and music by M. Maryanovsky) / A song is flowing (gypsy nomadic, words by M. Lakhtin, music by V. Kruchinin) (Frank Fox orchestra)
• Chubchik (folk) / Farewell, my camp (Frank Fox orchestra)
• Bessarabian ( folk motive) / Buran (tabornaya) (Frank Fox Orchestra)
• Marfusha (foxtrot, Mark Maryanovsky) / You've returned again (tango) (Honigsberg orchestra - Albahari)
• At the samovar (foxtrot, N. Gordonoi) / My last tango (Oscar Strok) (Honigsberg orchestra - Albahari)
• You and this guitar (tango, music by E. Petersburgsky, Russian text by Rotinovsky) / Boring (tango, Sasa Vlady) (Honigsberg orchestra - Albahari)

Columbia (USA)

Columbia (Australia)

• Komarik (Ukrainian folk song) / Karii ochi (Ukrainian song) - in Ukrainian. language, guitar, with accomp. orchestra

Bellaccord (Latvia)

• Hey guitar friend! / ????
• Moody / Misty at heart
• Andryusha/ Bellochka
• All that was / The song flows
• Barcelona / Nastya (the last record recorded at the Bellaccord factory)
• Marfusha \ Come back (1934)
• Near the forest, by the river / Guitar Song (1934)

Electrecord (Romania)

• Blue handkerchief (sung by Vera Leshchenko). Dark night
• Mom (Vera Leshchenko sings). Natasha
• Nadya-Nadechka. Beloved (duet with Vera Leshchenko)
• My Marusechka. Heart
• Tramp. Black braids
• Black eyes. Andryusha
• Kate. Student
• Parsley. Mom's heart
• Horses, Sasha
• A glass of vodka, Don't go
• Marfusha, listen to what I say
• Evening ringing, the bell rattles monotonously

Source:

Reissues

LP records (33⅓ rpm)

• Chants Tziganes de Russie par Pierre Lechtchenko, baryton (orchestre de Frank Foksa)
• Peter Lescenco sings / Songs performed by Peter Lescenco
• P. Leshtchenko (on the sleeve), P. Leshtchenko (on the record)
• Peter Lestchenko. Russian songs
• Russian tangos, vol. 2. Peter Leshtchenko and his Orchestra
• Sentimental Russian songs. Songs of old Russia. Peter Leshtchenko and his Orchestra
• Sung by Pyotr Leshchenko ["Melody" M60 48297 001]
• Sung by Pyotr Leshchenko-2 ["Melody" M60 48819 008]
• Sung by Pyotr Leshchenko-3 ["Melody" M60 49001 004]
• Sung by Pyotr Leshchenko-4 ["Melody" M60 49243 005]
• Sung by Pyotr Leshchenko-5 ["Melody" M60 49589 000]
• Sung by Pyotr Leshchenko-6 ["Melody" M60 49711 009]

CDs

• 2001 - Sing, Gypsy! (in the series “Idols of yesteryear”)
• 2001 - Petr Lescenco singt

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Literature

• Tango and romances by Pyotr Leshchenko // Compilers, authors of the introduction. articles Pozdnyakov A., Statsevich M. - M.: Niva Rossii, 1992.
• Savchenko B. Emigrants against their will // In the book: Savchenko B. Idols of the Forgotten Stage. - M.: Knowledge, 1992. P. 78-94.
• Bardadym V. The same Pyotr Leshchenko. Pages of life and creativity. - Krasnodar: Solo, 1993.
• Savchenko B. Pyotr Leshchenko // In the book: Savchenko B. Retro stage. - M.: Art, 1996. - P. 211-256.
• Gerasimova G. P.// Encyclopedia of the History of Ukraine / Editorial Board: V. A. Smoliy (head) and in. NAS of Ukraine. Institute of History of Ukraine. - 1st type. - Kiev: Naukova Dumka, 2009. - T. 6. - 790 p.
• Gridin V. M. He sang, loved and suffered: Notes about Pyotr Leshchenko. - Ed. 2nd, add. - Odessa: Astroprint, 1998. - 144 p. - (Odessa Memorial).
• Gurkovich V. N.// Historical heritage of Crimea. - 2003. - No. 1.
• Farewell my camp, I sing in last time// In the book: Smirnov V. Requiem of the 20th century. - Odessa: Astroprint, 2003. - T. 2. - P. 31-52.
• Zhelezny A. Pyotr Leshchenko. Biography, songs, discography. - Kyiv, 2008.
• Cherkasov A. A. Pyotr Leshchenko // Occupation of Odessa. Year 1942. January - May. - 1st ed. - Odessa: Optimum, 2008. - P. 163-202. - 206 s. - (Large literary and artistic series “All Odessa”). - 300 copies. - ISBN 978-966-344-1226 -6.
• Leshchenko V. Tell me why. [Memories of a widow about Pyotr Leshchenko] // Series: Russian chansonniers. - Nizhny Novgorod: Dekom, 2009 (with CD).

Notes

Links

• (unavailable link)
• Alexey Svetailo.

An excerpt characterizing Leshchenko, Pyotr Konstantinovich

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Murat's troops entered Moscow. A detachment of Wirtemberg hussars rode ahead, and the Neapolitan king himself rode behind on horseback with a large retinue.
Near the middle of the Arbat, near St. Nicholas the Revealed, Murat stopped, awaiting news from the advance detachment about the situation of the city fortress “le Kremlin”.
A small group of people from the residents remaining in Moscow gathered around Murat. Everyone looked with timid bewilderment at the strange, long-haired boss adorned with feathers and gold.
- Well, is this the king himself? Nothing! – quiet voices were heard.
The translator approached a group of people.
“Take off your hat... take off your hat,” they said in the crowd, turning to each other. The translator turned to one old janitor and asked how far it was from the Kremlin? The janitor, listening in bewilderment to the alien Polish accent and not recognizing the sounds of the translator's dialect as Russian speech, did not understand what was being said to him and hid behind others.
Murat moved towards the translator and ordered to ask where the Russian troops were. One of the Russian people understood what was being asked of him, and several voices suddenly began to answer the translator. A French officer from the advance detachment rode up to Murat and reported that the gates to the fortress were sealed and that there was probably an ambush there.
“Okay,” said Murat and, turning to one of the gentlemen of his retinue, he ordered four light guns to be brought forward and fired at the gate.
The artillery came out at a trot from behind the column following Murat and rode along the Arbat. Having descended to the end of Vzdvizhenka, the artillery stopped and lined up in the square. Several French officers controlled the cannons, positioning them, and looked into the Kremlin through a telescope.
The bell for Vespers was heard in the Kremlin, and this ringing confused the French. They assumed it was a call to arms. Several infantry soldiers ran to the Kutafyevsky Gate. There were logs and planks at the gate. Two rifle shots rang out from under the gate as soon as the officer and his team began to run up to them. The general standing at the cannons shouted command words to the officer, and the officer and the soldiers ran back.
Three more shots were heard from the gate.
One shot hit a French soldier in the leg, and a strange cry of a few voices was heard from behind the shields. On the faces of the French general, officers and soldiers at the same time, as if on command, the previous expression of gaiety and calm was replaced by a stubborn, concentrated expression of readiness to fight and suffer. For all of them, from the marshal to the last soldier, this place was not Vzdvizhenka, Mokhovaya, Kutafya and Trinity Gate, but this was a new area of ​​a new field, probably a bloody battle. And everyone prepared for this battle. The screams from the gate died down. The guns were deployed. The artillerymen blew off the burnt blazers. The officer commanded “feu!” [fallen!], and two whistling sounds of tins were heard one after another. Grapeshot bullets crackled against the stone of the gate, logs and shields; and two clouds of smoke wavered in the square.
A few moments after the rolling of shots across the stone Kremlin died down, a strange sound was heard above the heads of the French. A huge flock of jackdaws rose above the walls and, cawing and rustling with thousands of wings, circled in the air. Along with this sound, a lonely human cry was heard at the gate, and from behind the smoke the figure of a man without a hat, in a caftan, appeared. Holding a gun, he aimed at the French. Feu! - the artillery officer repeated, and at the same time one rifle and two cannon shots were heard. The smoke closed the gate again.
Nothing else moved behind the shields, and the infantry French soldiers with the officers we went to the gate. There were three wounded and four dead people lying at the gate. Two people in caftans were running away from below, along the walls, towards Znamenka.
“Enlevez moi ca, [Take it away,” said the officer, pointing to the logs and corpses; and the French, having finished off the wounded, threw the corpses down beyond the fence. No one knew who these people were. “Enlevez moi ca,” was the only word said about them, and they were thrown away and cleaned up later so they wouldn’t stink. Thiers alone dedicated several eloquent lines to their memory: “Ces miserables avaient envahi la citadelle sacree, s"etaient empares des fusils de l"arsenal, et tiraient (ces miserables) sur les Francais. On en sabra quelques "uns et on purgea le Kremlin de leur presence. [These unfortunates filled the sacred fortress, took possession of the guns of the arsenal and shot at the French. Some of them were cut down with sabers, and cleared the Kremlin of their presence.]
Murat was informed that the path had been cleared. The French entered the gates and began to camp on Senate Square. The soldiers threw chairs out of the Senate windows into the square and laid out fires.
Other detachments passed through the Kremlin and were stationed along Maroseyka, Lubyanka, and Pokrovka. Still others were located along Vzdvizhenka, Znamenka, Nikolskaya, Tverskaya. Everywhere, not finding owners, the French settled not as in apartments in the city, but as in a camp located in the city.
Although ragged, hungry, exhausted and reduced to 1/3 of their previous strength, the French soldiers entered Moscow in orderly order. It was an exhausted, exhausted, but still fighting and formidable army. But it was an army only until the minute the soldiers of this army went to their apartments. As soon as the people of the regiments began to disperse to empty and rich houses, the army was destroyed forever and neither residents nor soldiers were formed, but something in between, called marauders. When, five weeks later, the same people left Moscow, they no longer constituted an army. It was a crowd of marauders, each of whom carried or carried with him a bunch of things that seemed valuable and necessary to him. The goal of each of these people when leaving Moscow was not, as before, to conquer, but only to retain what they had acquired. Like that monkey who, having put his hand into the narrow neck of a jug and grabbed a handful of nuts, does not unclench his fist so as not to lose what he has grabbed, and thereby destroys himself, the French, when leaving Moscow, obviously had to die due to the fact that they were dragging with the loot, but it was as impossible for him to throw away this loot as it is impossible for a monkey to unclench a handful of nuts. Ten minutes after each French regiment entered some quarter of Moscow, not a single soldier or officer remained. In the windows of the houses people in greatcoats and boots could be seen walking around the rooms laughing; in the cellars and basements the same people managed the provisions; in the courtyards the same people unlocked or beat down the gates of barns and stables; they lit fires in the kitchens, baked, kneaded and cooked with their hands rolled up, scared, made them laugh and caressed women and children. And there were many of these people everywhere, in shops and in homes; but the army was no longer there.
On the same day, order after order was given by the French commanders to prohibit troops from dispersing throughout the city, to strictly prohibit violence against residents and looting, and to make a general roll call that same evening; but, despite any measures. the people who had previously made up the army dispersed throughout the rich, empty city, abundant in amenities and supplies. Just as a hungry herd walks in a heap across a bare field, but immediately scatters uncontrollably as soon as it attacks rich pastures, so the army scattered uncontrollably throughout the rich city.
There were no inhabitants in Moscow, and the soldiers, like water into sand, were sucked into it and, like an unstoppable star, spread out in all directions from the Kremlin, which they entered first of all. The cavalry soldiers, entering a merchant's house abandoned with all its goods and finding stalls not only for their horses, but also extra ones, still went nearby to occupy another house, which seemed better to them. Many occupied several houses, writing in chalk who occupied it, and arguing and even fighting with other teams. Before they could fit in, the soldiers ran outside to inspect the city and, hearing that everything had been abandoned, rushed to where they could take away valuables for nothing. The commanders went to stop the soldiers and themselves unwittingly became involved in the same actions. In Carriage Row there were shops with carriages, and the generals crowded there, choosing carriages and carriages for themselves. The remaining residents invited their leaders to their place, hoping to thereby protect themselves from robbery. There was an abyss of wealth, and there was no end in sight; everywhere, around the place that the French occupied, there were still unexplored, unoccupied places, in which, as it seemed to the French, there was even more wealth. And Moscow sucked them in further and further. Just as when water pours onto dry land, water and dry land disappear; in the same way, due to the fact that a hungry army entered an abundant, empty city, the army was destroyed, and the abundant city was destroyed; and there was dirt, fires and looting.

The French attributed the fire of Moscow to au patriotisme feroce de Rastopchine [to Rastopchin's wild patriotism]; Russians – to the fanaticism of the French. In essence, there were no reasons for the fire of Moscow in the sense that this fire could be attributed to the responsibility of one or several persons. Moscow burned down due to the fact that it was placed in such conditions under which every wooden city should burn down, regardless of whether the city had one hundred and thirty bad fire pipes or not. Moscow had to burn due to the fact that the inhabitants left it, and just as inevitably as a heap of shavings should catch fire, on which sparks of fire would rain down for several days. A wooden city, in which there are fires almost every day in the summer under the inhabitants of the house owners and under the police, cannot help but burn down when there are no residents in it, but troops live, smoking pipes, making fires on Senate Square from Senate chairs and cooking themselves food twice a day. Worth in Peaceful time troops settle into quarters in villages in a known area, and the number of fires in this area immediately increases. To what extent should the probability of fires increase in empty wooden city, in which someone else's army will be located? Le patriotisme feroce de Rastopchine and the fanaticism of the French are not to blame for anything here. Moscow caught fire from pipes, from kitchens, from fires, from the sloppiness of enemy soldiers and residents - not the owners of the houses. If there were arson (which is very doubtful, because there was no reason for anyone to set fire, and, in any case, it was troublesome and dangerous), then the arson cannot be taken as the cause, since without the arson it would have been the same.
No matter how flattering it was for the French to blame the atrocity of Rostopchin and for the Russians to blame the villain Bonaparte or then to place the heroic torch in the hands of their people, one cannot help but see that there could not have been such a direct cause of the fire, because Moscow had to burn, just as every village and factory had to burn , every house from which the owners will come out and into which strangers will be allowed to run the house and cook their own porridge. Moscow was burned by its inhabitants, it’s true; but not by those residents who remained in it, but by those who left it. Moscow, occupied by the enemy, did not remain intact, like Berlin, Vienna and other cities, only due to the fact that its inhabitants did not offer bread, salt and keys to the French, but left it.

The influx of Frenchmen, spreading like a star across Moscow on the day of September 2, reached the block in which Pierre now lived only in the evening.
After the last two days, spent alone and unusually, Pierre was in a state close to madness. His whole being was taken over by one persistent thought. He himself did not know how and when, but this thought now took possession of him so that he did not remember anything from the past, did not understand anything from the present; and everything that he saw and heard happened before him as in a dream.
Pierre left his home only to get rid of the complex tangle of life's demands that gripped him, and which, in his then state, he was able to unravel. He went to Joseph Alekseevich’s apartment under the pretext of sorting through the books and papers of the deceased only because he was looking for peace from life’s anxiety - and with the memory of Joseph Alekseevich, a world of eternal, calm and solemn thoughts was associated in his soul, completely opposite to the anxious confusion in which he felt himself being drawn in. He was looking for a quiet refuge and really found it in the office of Joseph Alekseevich. When, in the dead silence of the office, he sat down, leaning on his hands, over the dusty desk of the deceased, in his imagination, calmly and significantly, one after another, the memories of the last days began to appear, especially the Battle of Borodino and that indefinable feeling for him of his insignificance and falsity in comparison with the truth, simplicity and strength of that category of people who were imprinted on his soul under the name they. When Gerasim woke him from his reverie, the thought occurred to Pierre that he would take part in the supposed - as he knew - popular defense of Moscow. And for this purpose, he immediately asked Gerasim to get him a caftan and a pistol and announced to him his intention, hiding his name, to stay in the house of Joseph Alekseevich. Then, during the first solitary and idle day (Pierre tried several times and could not stop his attention on the Masonic manuscripts), he vaguely imagined several times the previously thought about the cabalistic meaning of his name in connection with the name of Bonaparte; but this thought that he, l "Russe Besuhof, was destined to put a limit to the power of the beast, came to him only as one of the dreams that run through his imagination for no reason and without a trace.

Please make corrections and additions!
[email protected]
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RGALI f. 3178 op. 2 units hr. 75. Andrianova (Leshchenko) Vera Georgievna, born 1923, singer
Deadline dates:
December 13, 1955 - October 13, 1962
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In 1936, the sisters already performed with Zhenya Zakitt, a dance trio. In 1940, one of the sisters got married and went to Italy. The trio broke up.
SO THE DESCENDANTS SHOULD BE SEARCHED IN ROME!
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Watch the movie... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5ZavW4Qg9M
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WITNESS PETER LESCHENKO

March 26, 1951 Pyotr Leshchenko was arrested
State security authorities of Romania
during the intermission after the first part of the concert in Brasov.
This was followed in July 1952 by the arrest of his wife Vera Belousova.
who was accused of treason.
Belousova V.G. On August 5, 1952 she was sentenced to death,
which was replaced by 25 years in prison,
in 1953 she was released for lack of evidence of a crime.

Leshchenko died in a Romanian prison hospital on July 16, 1954.
The materials on Leshchenko’s case are still closed.
The widow of Peter Leshchenko managed to get from Romania
the only information:
LESCENCO, PETRE. ARTIST. ARESTAT. AMURIT ;NTIMPULDETENIEI,
L.A. PENITENCIARULT;RGUOCNA.
(LESHCHENKO, PETER. ARTIST. PRISONER. DIED DURING THE STAY
THERE ARE WINDOWS IN THE PRISON).

INTERROGATION PROTOCOL TAKEN FROM THE ARCHIVED INVESTIGATIVE CASE
ACCUSING VERA BELOUSOVA-LESHCHENKO WITH TREASON TO THE MOTHERLAND
(Art. 58-I "a" of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR).

The interrogation protocol of Pyotr Leshchenko is a valuable source of information about the singer’s life and creative career. Based on this protocol, the biography of the artist is outlined. home page our site. The original handwritten text of the protocol was written on 17 separate stationery pages by the hand of the interrogating senior counterintelligence investigator of the MGB military unit (field post 58148), Lieutenant Sokolov.
At the end of each page there is the signature of Peter Leshchenko.
This document is given in Vera Leshchenko’s book “Tell Why”, but due to the fault of the editors of the publishing house “Decom”, when reprinting the manuscript, the fourth page of the protocol was completely omitted, and there are also many other minor typos and inaccuracies in the text.
A somewhat truncated and largely distorted text of the interrogation protocol, which was presented by Odessa resident Vladimir Aleksandrovich Smirnov, is posted on the Internet on one website. According to his testimony, the materials of the archival investigative case N15641-P of Vera Georgievna Belousova-Leshchenko, to which he had access, are stored in the Department of Internal Affairs of the city of Odessa on the street. Jewish, 43.
Below I give original text protocol of the interrogation of Pyotr Leshchenko, using photocopies of 17 handwritten pages that were copied from the archival investigative file on charges of Belousova-Leshchenko by a Lubyanka employee. I received copies of these documents from Vera Georgievna during her work on the book. I retain the original spelling, accepted abbreviations and recording form in full.

Leshchenko Pyotr Konstantinovich, born in 1898, native of the village of Isaevo, formerly. Kherson province, Russian, citizen of the Romanian People's Republic, secondary education, speaks Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, French and weak German languages, an artist by profession, was arrested in March 1951 by the Romanian State Security authorities and kept in custody.

The interrogation began at 19:15.

Witness Leshchenko was warned about liability for giving false testimony

/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

Question: Where were you born and what did you do before 1941?
Answer: I was born in 1898 in the village of Isaevo, formerly. Kherson province. I don’t know my father, since my mother gave birth to me without being married. At the age of 9 months, together with the mother, as well as with her birth-

/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

Telami moved to live in the city of Chisinau. Until 1906, I grew up and was raised at home, and then, as I had a talent for dancing and music, I was taken into the soldiers’ church choir. The director of this choir, Kogan, later assigned me to the 7th People's Parish School in Chisinau. At the same time, the regent of the bishop's choir, Berezovsky, drew attention to me and assigned me to the choir. Thus, by 1915 I received a general and musical education. In 1915, due to a change in my voice, I could not participate in the choir and was left without funds, so I decided to go to the front. I got a job as a volunteer in the 7th Don Cossack Regiment and served there until November 1916. From there I was sent to the infantry ensign school in Kiev, which I graduated from in March 1917 and I was awarded the rank of ensign. After graduating from the mentioned school, the 40th reserve regiment in Odessa was sent to the Romanian front and enlisted in the 55th Podolsk Infantry Regiment of the 14th Infantry Division as a platoon commander. In August 1917, on the territory of Romania, he was seriously wounded and shell-shocked and sent to a hospital, first to a field hospital, and then to Chisinau. The revolutionary events of October 1917 found me in the same hospital. Even after the Revolution, I continued to be treated until January 1918, i.e. until the capture of Bessarabia by Romanian troops.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

In mid-January 1918, I left the hospital and stayed in Chisinau with my relatives. By that time, my mother had married a dental technician, Alexey Vasilyevich Alfimov, and also lived in Chisinau. After that, until 1919, I worked in Chisinau for some time as a wood turner for a private owner, then served as a psalm-reader in the church at the Olginsky shelter, sub-regent of the church choir in the Chuflinsky and cemetery churches. In addition, he participated in a vocal quartet and sang in an opera formed in Chisinau, the director of which was a certain Belousova.
In the fall of 1919, with a dance group consisting of: Zeltser Daniil, Tovbik and Kangushner, (under the name "Elizarov") I went to Bucharest and performed with them for 4 months at the Alyagambra Theater. Then, as part of the same group, he performed in Bucharest cinemas throughout 1920. Until 1925, he worked in various artistic groups as a dancer and singer and traveled around the cities of Romania. In 1925, together with a certain Trifanidis Nikolai, live. Chisinau left for Paris. There I met with Kangizer Antonina, born. Chisinau, with whom I worked in the same troupe in Romania in 1921-1922. Together with her, her 9-year-old brother, her mother and Trifanidis, we organized a troupe and performed for three months in Parisian cinemas.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

At that time, I intended to marry Kangizer, but since she had many admirers, I broke off all relations with her, our troupe broke up and was without work for two months. There, in Paris, I accidentally met a certain Yakov Voronovsky, a dancer whom I knew from Bucharest. He offered me a position as a dancer at the Normandy restaurant, and he himself went to Sweden, it seems. This was in February 1926, I worked there until the end of April of that year. At the same time, I met a certain Zakit Zhenya, a Latvian by nationality, an artist by profession, born. Riga and made a duet with her. Later I met there with two Polish musicians who had previously worked in one of the restaurants in Chernivtsi. They had a contract with the Turkish theater in Adana and were supposed to go there with the orchestra on tour. These musicians invited Zakitt and me, to which we agreed, and in May 1926 we left for Constantinople on the Atiki steamship. Arriving there, we learned that the theater in the city of Adana had burned down. A few days later, an entrepreneur arrived from Smyrna and signed a contract with us for 6 months, where we went and worked for the entire period in one of the restaurants in the city.
/Signature: Petr Leshchenko/

There, in July 1926, I formalized my marriage to Zakitt Zhenya. Then we signed a contract with the Carillon restaurant in Beirut, where we worked for 8 months. From there, he and his wife also went to Damascus under a contract and worked at the Opera Abas restaurant, then worked in the city of Aleppo and returned to Beirut. At the beginning of 1928, we went to Athens, worked at the Kavo Moskovit restaurant, then to the mountains. Thessaloniki. From this city, under a contract, they left for Constantinople and performed at the Petit Chalep restaurant until August 1928.
Since they were abroad for a long time and did not see their relatives, they decided to return to Romania. They immediately entered the Bucharest theater called Teatrul Nostru. In December 1928, we went to my relatives in Chisinau, who received some financial assistance what they needed.
At the beginning of 1929, we went to Riga to visit my wife’s relatives on the occasion of the death of her father, where we stayed for two weeks, after which we went to Chernivtsi and worked there at the Olga Bar restaurant for three months. From Chernivtsi we moved to Chisinau, performed in
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

London restaurant, summer theater and cinemas until the winter of 1929 - 1930. In winter we went to Riga. I worked there alone in the cafe "A.T." until December 1930, then received an invitation from the Smaltsov dancers, who moved from Riga to Belgrade and went there on tour for one month, after which until May 1931 he again continued to work in the A.T. cafe. Theatrical agent Duganov arranged for me to go to concerts in the city of Libau, to the cinema, stayed there for a month and at the same time signed a contract with the summer restaurant "Jurmala". Arriving in Riga, he took his wife, son, born in January 1931, his wife’s mother and went to Libau, where he spent the entire summer of 1931 and returned to Riga again, getting a job at his previous job in the A.T. cafe.
The owner of a music store in Riga, whose last name was Yunosha, suggested that I go to Berlin to sing several songs and record them on gramophone records from the Parlophone company owned by the owner Lindström. I went there in the late autumn of 1931 and returned back 10 days later, continuing to work in a cafe until spring 1932. In the spring, he and his wife went to Chernivtsi, worked there for about two months, after which they lived in Chisinau, where they performed in cinemas. Having decided to settle permanently, we moved from Chisinau to Bucharest and entered the Rus pavilion.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

In addition, we went on a tour of Bessarabia. In 1933 I went to Vienna, where I also performed songs with the aim of recording them on records by Columbia. In 1935 he traveled to London twice, where he performed on the radio and sang for recordings. The first time I went with my wife, and the second time I went alone. At the end of 1935, in a company with certain Cavoura and Gerutsky, they opened a restaurant in Bucharest on Calea Viktorii Street No. 2, which existed until 1942.
In 1937-1938 for the summer seasons I went with my wife and son to Riga, and the rest of the time, until the start of the 1941 war, I spent in Bucharest and performed in a restaurant. During the war, I traveled to Odessa, occupied by Romanian troops.

Question: Why did you go there?
Answer: In October 1941, while living in Bucharest and working in a restaurant, I received a notice from the 16th Infantry Regiment, to which I was assigned, to report there to receive an appointment to serve in one of the prisoner-of-war camps, but I did not show up to the regiment. Soon after this, I received a second call to the regiment, but I also did not go to the regiment on this call, because I did not want to serve in the army and tried to avoid service.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

Only on the third call did he arrive at the regiment stationed in the town of Falticeni, where he stated that he had not received any calls. I was tried by an officer's court, warned and left alone.
In December 1941, I received an invitation from the director of Odessa opera house Selyavin with a request to come to Odessa and give several concerts. I told him that I couldn’t come because... I don’t have permission to leave and in general my situation is unimportant with regard to past calls to the regiment.
In January 1942, Selyavin informed me that tickets for my concerts had been sold and that the date of the concerts had been postponed to an indefinite time, until my arrival. Apparently he didn't get my first response. I informed Selyavin for the second time that I could not come to Odessa without permission from the authorities. By the end of March - beginning of April 1942, I received permission from the cultural and educational department of the Governorate of Transnistria, signed, it seems, by Russ, to enter Odessa. To this I answered the theatrical agent of the Odessa Opera, Druzyuk, that I could arrive in Odessa only after finishing winter season in a restaurant. On May 19, 1942, I went to Odessa alone and stayed there at the Bristol Hotel.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

Question: What did you do during your stay in Odessa?
Answer: Arriving in Odessa to see Selyavin, I received an opera orchestra at my disposal and began rehearsals. Soon after arriving, in the month of May, I learned that a girl was performing very successfully in concerts at the Odessa restaurant. I became interested in this and decided to visit the mentioned restaurant. Arriving there in the evening, I listened to the performance of this girl named Vera Georgievna Belousova, she sang well to her own accompaniment on the accordion. After the performance, she was introduced to me and that’s how I got to know her. I liked both her and her singing. While I was preparing for the concerts, she continued to work in the restaurant for some time. I gave my first concert with the opera orchestra on June 5, 1942, the second concert on June 7, and the third on June 9 of the same year. I also invited Belousova to these concerts, whom I began to court immediately after meeting. In July 1942, I received a notice from the Odessa commandant’s office to report for service in the 13th division as a Russian language translator, but I did not go there and began to look for an opportunity that would help me stay in place. I met certain Litvak and Boyko, who were holding
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

Restaurant "Nord", I spoke with them and they offered me to join them. After the mayor’s office certified our agreement on working together, I turned to the Military Desk of the mayor's office, which had the right to issue me a document stating that I was mobilized to work on site. After that, I went to Bucharest specifically to buy an accordion for Belousova, since her accordion had become unusable due to a breakdown.
Returning to Odessa from Bucharest, I received from the Military Desk of the Primaria a document about my mobilization on the spot. Thus, I avoided being sent to the front, to the active army. After all this, I started working in a restaurant alone, and then together with Belousova and other artists. In September 1942, I proposed to Belousova, she agreed to become my wife and I moved to live with her. She lived with her mother and two brothers on the street. Novoselskaya in house No. 66. In December 1942, I caught a cold, became very ill and was forced to go to Bucharest for treatment, while Belousova remained to work in the restaurant. At the beginning of February 1943, I returned to Odessa, and at the beginning of March of the same year, I received an order from the mayor’s office to hand over the documents received at the military desk regarding my mobilization on the spot.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

Thus, I could not continue working in the restaurant; Belousova also stopped performing and began studying only at the conservatory, where she had entered earlier. Two days later, the commandant's department ordered me to immediately leave for the 16th infantry. regiment for passage military service. Again, wanting to avoid being sent to the front, I turned to a garrison doctor I knew with the rank of lieutenant colonel (I forgot his last name) with a request to help me. He put me in a military hospital for 10 days. While I was there, an order came to send me to the front, to the operational department of the headquarters of the 95th infantry. regiment of the 19th Infantry Division. A hospital doctor with the rank of captain (I also don’t remember his last name), who knew me, suggested that I have an operation to remove appendicitis, although this was not necessary, but just needed to gain time. He performed the operation on me on April 10, 1943, and until April 20 I was in the hospital, then I received leave for 25 days, after which I had to report to the 16th Infantry. regiment. On May 14, he reported to the mobilization department of the headquarters of the mentioned regiment, located in the town of Falticeni. From there I was sent to the 95th reserve regiment in the city of Turku Severin, where I remained until May 30
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

1943. There I received an appointment to the operational department of the headquarters of the 95th Infantry Regiment, 19th Infantry. division located in Crimea, mountains. Kerch. Having reached the Razdelnaya station, I decided not to report to my duty station, but went to Odessa. He immediately turned to the military artistic group of the 6th division, located in Odessa, in order to stay there. I was enrolled in the group, although not without difficulty, and from June 5 to June 15, 1943, I went with this group to give concerts for Romanian military units. Belousova also traveled with me as my wife, but she did not perform at the concerts. I was dressed in military uniform and at concerts I performed only one tango, “Blue Eyes,” translated into Romanian. They performed in front of military units in Zhmerinka, Mogilev, Birzul (now Kotovsk), Balta and Yampol. After returning to Odessa, the order came to leave me with the 6th infantry. divisions in this very artistic group. Until October 1943, I served in the said group and performed with it mainly in hospitals, performing Romanian songs. In October 1943 General base The Romanian army ordered the headquarters of the 6th Infantry Division to immediately send me to the front. Two days later I left for Crimea with the 95th infantry. Regiment 19 Inf. divisions.
Rev. "October" to believe. /signed Peter Leshchenko./
/signed Peter Leshchenko/

Question: While in Odessa with Belousova, for whom did you give concerts?
Answer: We gave concerts for the city public who visited the Nord restaurant.
Together with Belousova, on our own initiative, we gave one concert in the fall of 1942 at the Obozrenie Theater. Another time we performed at a jazz evening with the Romanian Petrut in the spring of 1943. Tickets for this evening were sold to the entire public.

Question: What repertoire have you performed with?
Answer: I performed dance tangos and foxtrots, Russian folk, lyrical and gypsy songs. Both she and I sang in Russian.

Question: What anti-Soviet songs did you perform with Belousova?
Answer: We have never performed songs with anti-Soviet content!

Question: Did you take part in the newspapers and magazines published by the occupiers?
Answer: No correspondence from me or Belousova was published in the newspapers.

Question: Who wrote in the newspapers about you?
Answer: Newspapers sometimes published reviews of our performances at concerts, but I don’t know who wrote them.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

True, in one of the newspapers, the name of which I don’t remember, at my request, an announcement was placed that on such and such a date my concert with Vera Belousova would take place at the Obozrenie Theater. I did not send any other correspondence to the editorial office.

Question: When and why did Belousova, having betrayed her homeland, flee to Romania?
Answer: Having left for the front in Crimea in October 1943, until mid-March 1944 I worked as the head of canteens (officers), first at the headquarters of the 95th Infantry Regiment of the 19th Infantry. divisions, and in Lately at the headquarters of the cavalry corps. I obtained a short leave from the corps commander, General Chalyk, and the corps chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Sarescu, and on March 18-19, 1944, I flew by plane from Dzhankoy to Tiraspol with other officers. From there I did not go to Bucharest, but arrived in Odessa to see Belousova, with whom, while in Crimea, I corresponded regularly. Upon arrival, I found the Belousov family in complete confusion. They didn't know what to do. Their entire family was registered as suspicious for being sent to Germany due to the retreat of German troops, due to the fact that Belousova's father served in the Soviet army.
Because Vera Belousova and I loved each other
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

A friend and wanting to help her and her relatives, I invited them to go with me to Romania. They agreed with my proposal, collected the necessary things, and the next day we all left Odessa: Vera Belousova, her mother and two brothers. It was March 21 or 22, 1944.

Question: What were the activities of you and Belousova on the territory of Romania?
Answer: Having arrived in Romania, I left the Belousov family in the city of Liebling, Timis-Torontal county, and I myself and Vera Belousova went to Bucharest to visit my parents, who lived on Bibescu Voda Street No. 3-5. By May 1944, I finally finalized the divorce from my first wife Zakitt and in May 1944 registered my marriage to Vera Belousova, who after that was listed under my last name Leshchenko.
Before the surrender of Romania, we did nothing. After the entry of Soviet troops into Romanian territory, the Belousov mother and brothers came to us in Bucharest and soon returned to Odessa as a repatriation. At the request of the Soviet command, my wife and I gave concerts for military units in various garrisons until the spring of 1948. Then we performed concerts in Bucharest cinemas, and in March 1949 we entered the organized variety theater. I worked there until March 1951, i.e. until my arrest.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

I don’t know what my wife did after my arrest. I am serving a sentence in a labor colony and am allowed to see my wife. On July 17, 1952, she came to me and said that she worked in one of the Bucharest restaurants called “Pescarus”.

Question: Who did you keep in touch with among the foreigners and what was it?
Answer: Even before the war, I met in Bucharest a Persian citizen, Yusuf Shimkhani Zade, a businessman of Jewish origin. He had a family in Bucharest, but did not live with them. In 1951 he left for Palestine. The family - my wife and daughter left earlier, but I don’t know where. We had purely friendly, everyday relations with him. He was very fond of our singing and often visited our apartment, and in difficult moments of life he provided some financial assistance. Neither I nor Vera Leshchenko were familiar with other foreigners.

Question: Why did Vera Leshchenko-Belousova agree to live in Romania?
Answer: Since we fell in love with each other and besides, she became my wife, she did not want to return to the Soviet Union alone. In 1950-51, we contacted the Soviet consulate about leaving for the USSR.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

There they told us that I should apply for this to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and my wife should return through the repatriation commission. I intended to write a statement, but due to the arrest I did not have time to do so. Vera Leshchenko did not want to go to the Soviet Union without me, which she stated at the consulate.

Question: Where is your first wife?
Answer: My first wife, Zakitt Zhenya, born in 1908-1910, lives with her son Leshchenko, Igor, born in 1931, in Bucharest on Caimati Street No. 14. I have broken all ties with her since 1939.

Question: Who are your relatives?
Answer: In Bucharest on the street. Bibescu Voda N 3 - 5 lives my stepfather - Alfimov Alexey Vasilievich with his daughter Popescu Valentina Alekseevna, her husband Popescu Peter and their son Pavel Popescu, 10 years old.
Alfimov’s second daughter, Ekaterina, went somewhere abroad in 1940 and I know nothing about her. In addition, as shown above, my son lives in Bucharest with his first wife. I have no other relatives.

The interrogation ended at 24 hours.

I have read the protocol and it is written down correctly. .
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

Interrogated by: Art. follow counterintelligence MGB military unit 58148 l-nt P. Sokolov
/signature: Sokolov/

There was also an identification protocol in the case.
Leshchenko P.K. had to “identify” his wife, Vera Belousova-Leshchenko, from the photograph:
Leshchenko P.K., after familiarizing himself with the photographs of various citizens presented to him, stated:
“In photo No. 2 I see my wife. I testified about her actions on July 17, 1952.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/
And, of course, the signature of Art. MGB counterintelligence investigator, military unit 58148 l-nt P. Sokolov
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Leshchenko V.G. Petr Leshchenko: Everything that happened...: The last tango. – M.: AST, 2013. – 352 p. : portrait, ill.
...
Leshchenko Vera Georgievna (1923-2009) - singer
1923, November 1. – Born in Odessa in the family of a leading employee of the NKVD border detachment. Father - Georgy Ivanovich Belousov. Mother - Anastasia Panteleimonovna Belousova, housewife.

1931 – Study in general education and music schools.

1937 – Completion of eighth grade, admission to School of Music them. Stolyarsky.

1939. – Admission to the Odessa Conservatory in piano class. At the same time, she worked as a soloist in a jazz orchestra in a cinema.

1941, June. – Father’s voluntary departure to the front. Mobilization of elder brother George into the army. V.G. serves as part of an artillery brigade in military units. Wound.

1941, October. – Occupation of Odessa by Romanians and Germans. Work as a singer in the Odessa restaurant. The whole family had to report to the commandant’s office due to the fact that Georgy Ivanovich was a communist. The return of his older brother George, who was captured and released.

1942, June 5. – Acquaintance and friendship with a Romanian citizen, singer Petr Leshchenko. Betrothal of Vera and Peter.

1944, May. – Registration of marriage with P.K. Leshchenko in Bucharest. Joint concert activities of spouses.

1944, August 31. – Entry of Soviet troops into Bucharest. Performances of the spouses with concerts in Soviet military units. Study at the Bucharest Conservatory.

1945, autumn. – Return to Odessa of a father who lost his health at the front.

1948 – Death of father.

1951 – Arrest of husband in Romania. Dismissal of V.G. from the Bucharest Theater two weeks after her husband's arrest. Work as a soloist in a restaurant.

1952, July 2. – Arrest of V.G. in Bucharest by Soviet services, transfer to the Romanian city of Constanta. Jail. Investigator Sokolov, charged with treason.

1952, August 5. – Announcement of the verdict of the “troika” chaired by Colonel Rusakov: execution, replaced by 25 years of labor camp, 5 years of loss of rights with complete confiscation of property (except for the accordion donated by V. Peter).

1952, November. – Transfer to Dnepropetrovsk to a transit prison. Date with mother and older brother.

1953, February. – Stage to the city of Ivdel Sverdlovsk region. Assignment to the cultural and educational unit. Concert and theater work in the camp.

1954, July 12. – Release, receiving a ticket to Odessa. Lack of work, touring with three operetta artists in Siberia.

1955 – Work in the All-Union Concert and Touring Association.

1956. – Receiving news of the death of Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko in Romania.

1957. – Marriage to Vladimir Andrianov, an acquaintance from Ivdellager, head of the production department of the Mosconcert.

1958. – Rehabilitation.

1959, summer. – Concerts in Magadan, cordial meeting with Vadim Alekseevich Kozin.

1960s – Soloist of the Boris Rensky Orchestra.

1966. – Death of V. Andrianov.

1980s – Third marriage, husband – Eduard Kumelan.

2009, December 19. – Vera Georgievna Leshchenko died in Moscow. She was buried at the Perepechinskoe cemetery.

(1898-1954) Russian singer

For many years, the name of Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko remained banned, which, however, did not in any way affect the popularity of his songs. Sometimes it came to incidents. For example, Leshchenko’s foxtrot “Andryusha” performed by K. Shulzhenko became an undoubted hit in the late thirties. Newspapers wrote that this song was “suitable for educating Soviet youth,” and at the same time, official propaganda referred to the singer himself as nothing more than a “bourgeois burp.”

Pyotr Leshchenko was born in the small village of Isaevo on the very border of Russia and Bessarabia. When Peter was three years old, his father died unexpectedly, and his mother had to move to Chisinau. There she soon remarried A. Alfimov, who became a real father for Peter.

The stepfather was the first to notice the boy's musical talent and gave him elementary lessons music. A little later, again on Alfimov’s initiative, Leshchenko was accepted into the Chisinau choir Orthodox Church. In 1905, a seven-year-old boy was already earning money on his own, receiving bread for speaking to soldiers.

For several years, Peter Leshchenko studied at the Chisinau Seminary, where there was an excellent choir. At the end of the 1910s, to help his family, he began performing in the Orpheum illusion: he danced Lezginka between sessions and threw daggers at targets. True, at that time he still did not dare to sing on his own.

In July 1914, when the First World War began, Pyotr Leshchenko was drafted into the army and sent to ensign school. After a short study, he found himself at the front, but less than a month had passed before he was wounded and ended up in the hospital. There Leshchenko met the October Revolution and, unexpectedly for himself, found himself an emigrant, since Bessarbia was captured by Romanian troops.

In search of income, he moved with his parents and two younger sisters to Bucharest, where the family bought a small restaurant. Everyone had to work: Leshchenko performed separate dance numbers and in a duet with his mother, who sang well. Feeling that he lacks skill, he begins to intensively study vocals and choreography.

In the mid-twenties, on the advice of his stepfather, he went to Paris, where he performed in Russian restaurants and also played in the Guslyar balalaika orchestra.

At the beginning of 1926, Pyotr Leshchenko met dancer 3. Zakis, who at that time had just graduated from ballet school. Soon they got married and went on a tour of European countries as the duo “Petrushka and Rositta”. Now Leshchenko not only dances, but also sings, and when he realized that the public liked his singing, he left dancing and began performing popular songs.

In the summer of 1928, he and his wife came to Romania and began performing at the famous Bucharest restaurant Vishoy. They spent two years here, and then went to Latvia to live with Zakis’ parents.

In Riga, Leshchenko performs at the Dailes Theatre, at the Palladium cinema and in a cafe owned by his father-in-law. There he was heard by the famous violinist G. Schmidt and introduced him to the composer Oskar Strok. The acquaintance soon turned into a close friendship, and over time, Strok became the permanent author of all Pyotr Leshchenko’s songs.

In addition, Strok helped him conclude a contract with the company Junger and Fireabend, which represented the famous German gramophone company Parlophone in Latvia. After listening, the management of the company invited Leshchenko to go to Germany to record songs on records.

Leaving his wife and newly born son in Riga, Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko went to Berlin, where he recorded several songs, which were soon released in recordings. After this, fame came to him, but he continued to perform in cinemas and small restaurants, because he did not have in a strong voice necessary for performances in large halls.

The singer's popularity continued to grow, Leshchenko was invited to record records in the studios of the most famous companies - Columbia, Electrecord. Usually the singer spent the winter in Bucharest, and in the summer months he came to Riga, where he performed in restaurants located on the seaside. There, in 1933, two English entrepreneurs heard him, who invited the singer to London. Peter Leshchenko's concert was such a success that he soon repeated it on the BBC, where the record was also recorded. It is curious that among those who spoke enthusiastically about Leshchenko’s performance was the Russian prince Felix Yusupov.

A year later, the singer received a new invitation to England. He performed in the most prestigious restaurants of the capital: Trocadero, Savoy, Palladium. Records of his songs were sold throughout Europe. Sometimes they ended up in Russia. Songs by Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko to the melody of O. The line “Tell me why”, “Let’s say goodbye”, “Don’t leave” were included in the repertoire of leading Russian pop artists - V. Kozin, L. Utesov, I. Yuryeva. One review said that these songs reflect the mood of “future-oriented Soviet youth.”

At the same time, Leshchenko himself continued to be branded and criticized in the official Soviet press. And the name of one of his songs, “Black Eyes,” was even used as the title of one of the columns in the satirical magazine “Crocodile” as a symbol of bourgeois culture.

Although Pyotr Leshchenko did not have a large vocal range, he attracted attention with his emotionality, spontaneity of experiences, and ability to present even a primitive text. Together with A. Vertinsky, he can be considered the founder of the song theater on the domestic stage.

It is significant that at the end of the thirties, when it was officially forbidden to perform in Russian in Romania, Leshchenko continued to sing only in Russian. In Belgrade, he recorded a program of Soviet songs on a disc, which opened with the song “Wide is my native country” to the music of Dunaevsky.

The singer's repertoire was varied: he performed Russian and Ukrainian melodies, and introduced novelties from the Soviet stage, in particular works by the Pokrass brothers.

At the end of the thirties, Petr Leshchenko opened his own restaurant in Bucharest. An orchestra began performing there under the direction of composer J. Ypsilanti, whose wife, A. Bayanova, sang with Leshchenko. Interestingly, during the singer’s performances, visitors were strictly forbidden to eat or drink.

It seemed that the time for quiet work had finally come in the artist’s life. But with the outbreak of World War II everything changed. When Romania declared war on the USSR, Peter Leshchenko was drafted into the army, but he refused to fight against his people. The authorities were afraid to bring him to justice and preferred to leave him alone. As soon as Romanian troops occupied Odessa, Leshchenko began to seek permission to come to the city with concerts.

In the spring of 1942, the German authorities allowed Leshchenko's concert in the hall of the Russian Drama Theater. The singer performed accompanied by the orchestra of the Odessa Opera. This day was truly triumphant in his career. At the request of the public, Peter Leshchenko had to repeat the concert the next day, and then several more times.

In Odessa, he met V. Belousova, who became his accompanist during the concerts. Soon Leshchenko took her to Bucharest, divorced his first wife and married Belousova.

During the war, he often came to Odessa and performed in a variety of halls: the stock exchange building, restaurants, and private homes. Immediately after Soviet troops entered the city, he offered his services to the new authorities.

His proposal was accepted, and Peter Leshchenko began performing concerts again. Moreover, the singer began efforts to return to the USSR. But in March 1951, he was suddenly arrested on charges of collaborating with the Nazis and placed in a prisoner of war camp near the Romanian city of Brasov.

Only nine months later was Leshchenko’s wife able to get a date. Belousova tried to help her husband, but soon she herself was arrested and sent to the USSR. In 1954, Belousova was released and allowed to return to Moscow. There she learned that Leshchenko had died in the camp.

Only in 1990 was the first record with recordings of Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko released in the USSR, and in 1998 a memorial plaque was laid on the “star alley”.

Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko (rum. Petre Leșcenco). Born on June 2 (14), 1898 in the village of Isaevo, Kherson province - died on July 16, 1954 in the Romanian prison hospital of Targu-Ocna. Russian and Romanian pop singer, dancer, restaurateur.

Pyotr Leshchenko was born on June 2 (14 according to the new style) June 1898 in the village of Isaevo, Kherson province. Nowadays it is the Nikolaevsky district of the Odessa region.

Mother - Maria Kalinovna Leshchenkova.

Peter was illegitimate child. In the registry book of the district archive there is an entry: “Maria Kalinovna Leshchenkova, the daughter of a retired soldier, gave birth to a son, Peter, on June 2, 1898.” In the “father” column there is an entry: “illegitimate.”

He was baptized on July 3, 1898, and subsequently the date of baptism appeared in Pyotr Leshchenko’s documents. Godparents: nobleman Alexander Ivanovich Krivosheev and noblewoman Katerina Yakovlevna Orlova.

It is known that Peter’s mother had an absolute ear for music, knew many folk songs and sang well, which had a due influence on the formation of his personality. From early childhood he also discovered extraordinary musical abilities.

The mother’s family, together with 9-month-old Peter, moved to Chisinau, where about nine years later the mother married dental technician Alexei Vasilyevich Alfimov.

Pyotr Leshchenko spoke Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, French and German.

The musician himself wrote about himself: “At the age of 9 months, my mother and I, together with her parents, moved to live in the city of Chisinau. Until 1906, I grew up and was raised at home, and then, as I had abilities in dancing and music, I was taken to soldiers' church choir. The director of this choir, Kogan, later assigned me to the 7th People's Parish School in Chisinau. At the same time, the director of the bishop's choir, Berezovsky, paid attention to me, assigned me to the choir. Thus, by 1915 I received a general and musical education In 1915, due to a change in my voice, I could not participate in the choir and was left without funds, so I decided to go to the front. I got a job as a volunteer in the 7th Don Cossack Regiment and served there until November 1916. From there I was sent to the infantry school for warrant officers in city ​​of Kiev, which I graduated from in March 1917, and I was awarded the rank of ensign. After graduating from the mentioned school, through the 40th reserve regiment in Odessa, I was sent to the Romanian front and enlisted in the 55th Podolsk Infantry Regiment of the 14th Infantry Division for the position platoon commander. In August 1917, on the territory of Romania, he was seriously wounded and shell-shocked - and was sent to a hospital, first to a field hospital, and then to the city of Chisinau. The revolutionary events of October 1917 found me in the same hospital. Even after the revolution, I continued to be treated until January 1918, that is, until the capture of Bessarabia by Romanian troops."

Bessarabia was declared Romanian territory in 1918, and Pyotr Leshchenko was officially discharged from the hospital as a Romanian citizen.

After leaving the hospital, he lived with his relatives. Until 1919, Leshchenko worked as a turner for a private owner, then served as a psalm-reader in the church at the Olginsky shelter, and as sub-regent of the church choir in the Chuflinsky and cemetery churches. In addition, he participated in a vocal quartet and sang at the Chisinau Opera, the director of which was a certain Belousova.

Since the autumn of 1919, as part of dance group“Elizarov” (Danila Zeltser, Tovbis, Antonina Kangizer) performed for four months in Bucharest at the Alyagambra Theater, then with them throughout 1920 - in Bucharest cinemas.

Until 1925, he toured Romania as a dancer and singer as part of various artistic groups. In 1925, he left for Paris with Nikolai Trifanidis, where he met Antonina Kangizer. With her, her 9-year-old brother and mother, Trifanidis performs in Parisian cinemas for three months.

Leshchenko performed with a guitar duet in the balalaika ensemble “Guslyar” with a number in which he played the balalaika, and then, dressed in a Caucasian costume, went on stage with “Arab steps” with daggers in his teeth, dancing in a “squat” and accompanying all this throwing daggers at the floor. The number was a success with the public.

Wanting to improve his dance technique, Leshchenko entered Trefilova’s ballet school, which was considered one of the best in France. At school he met the artist Zhenya (Zinaida) Zakitt from Riga, a Latvian. Peter and Zinaida learned several dance numbers and began performing as a duet in Parisian restaurants, with great success. Soon the dancing duo became a married couple.

In February 1926, in Paris, Leshchenko accidentally met an acquaintance from Bucharest, Yakov Voronovsky. He was about to leave for Sweden - and offered Leshchenko his place as a dancer in the Normandy restaurant. Until the end of April 1926, Leshchenko performed in this restaurant.

Polish musicians, who previously worked in a restaurant in Chernivtsi and had a contract with a Turkish theater in the city of Adana, invite Peter Leshchenko and Zakitt to go on tour with them. And from May 1926 to August 1928, the family duo toured the countries of Europe and the Middle East - Constantinople, Adana, Smyrna, Beirut, Damascus, Aleppo, Athens, Thessaloniki.

In 1928, the Leshchenko couple returned to Romania and entered the Bucharest Teatrul Nostra. Then they go to Riga, on the occasion of the death of his wife's father. We stayed in Riga for two weeks and moved to Chernivtsi, where we worked at the Olgaber restaurant for three months. Then - transfer to Chisinau.

Until the winter of 1929, the Leshchenko spouses performed in the London restaurant, in the Summer Theater and cinemas. Then - Riga, where until December 1930 Pyotr Leshchenko worked alone in the A.T. cafe. He only left for a month at the invitation of the Smaltsov dancers to Belgrade.

When Zinaida became pregnant, their dance duet broke up. Looking for an alternative way to make money, Leshchenko turned to his vocal abilities.

Theatrical agent Duganov arranged for Leshchenko to go to concerts in Libau for a month. At the same time, Leshchenko enters into a contract with the summer restaurant “Jurmala”. He spent the entire summer of 1931 with his family in Libau. Upon returning to Riga, he again works at the A.T. cafe. At this time, the singer met the composer Oscar Strok, the creator of tangos, romances, foxtrots and songs. Leshchenko performed and recorded the composer’s songs: “Black Eyes”, “Blue Rhapsody”, “Tell me Why” and other tangos and romances. He also worked with other composers, in particular with Mark Maryanovsky, the author of “Tatyana”, “Miranda”, “Nastya-Yagodka”.

The owner of a music store in Riga, whose last name was Yunosha, in the fall of 1931 invited Leshchenko to go to Berlin for ten days to record songs at the Parlophon company. Leshchenko also enters into a contract with the Romanian branch of the English recording company Columbia (about 80 songs have been recorded). The singer's records are published by Parlophone Records (Germany), Electrecord (Romania), Bellaccord (Latvia).

Since the spring of 1932, he again works together with Zakitt in Chernivtsi, in Chisinau. In 1933, Leshchenko and his family decided to settle permanently in Bucharest and went to work at the Rus pavilion. In addition - a tour of Bessarabia, a trip to Vienna to record at the Columbia company.

In 1935, together with Kavura and Gerutsky, he opened the Leshchenko restaurant at 2 Kalya Victoria Street, which existed until 1942. Leshchenko performed in his restaurant with the ensemble “Leshchenko Trio”: the singer’s wife and his younger sisters- Valya and Katya.

In 1935, Leshchenko traveled to London twice: he spoke on the radio, recorded at a recording studio, and, at the invitation of the famous impresario Holt Leshchenko, gave two concerts. In 1937 and 1938, I went to Riga with my family for the summer season. He spends the rest of the time before the start of the war in Bucharest, performing in a restaurant.

During his creative life, the singer recorded over 180 gramophone discs.

Pyotr Leshchenko in occupied Odessa

In October 1941, Leshchenko received a notice from the 16th Infantry Regiment, to which he was assigned. But under various pretexts, Leshchenko tries to avoid service and continues his concert activities. Only on the third call did Leshchenko arrive at the regiment in Falticeni. Here he was tried by an officer's court, warned that he had to appear when summoned, and was released.

In December 1941, Leshchenko received an invitation from the director of the Odessa Opera House Selyavin with a request to come to Odessa and give several concerts. He refused due to a possible re-call to the regiment.

In January 1942, Selyavin announced that the date of the concerts had been postponed indefinitely, but, nevertheless, all tickets had been sold. In March 1942, Leshchenko received permission from the cultural and educational department of the Governorate, signed by Russ, to enter Odessa.

He left for Odessa, occupied by Romanian troops, on May 19, 1942, and stayed at the Bristol Hotel. In Odessa, on June 5, 7 and 9, Leshchenko held solo concerts.

At one of his rehearsals, he met nineteen-year-old Vera Belousova, who became his second wife.

In February 1943, he received orders to immediately report to the 16th Infantry Regiment to continue military service. A garrison doctor he knew suggested Pyotr Leshchenko treatment in a military hospital. Leshchenko decides to have his appendix removed, although this was not necessary. After the operation, there is no 25 days of required leave for service. Leshchenko manages to get a job in the military artistic group of the 6th division. Until June 1943 he performed in Romanian military units.

In October 1943, a new order from the Romanian command: send Leshchenko to the front in Crimea. In Crimea, until mid-March 1944, he was at the headquarters, and then the head of the officers' canteen. Then he gets a vacation, but instead of Bucharest he comes to Odessa. He learns that the Belousov family is to be sent to Germany. Pyotr Leshchenko takes away his future wife, her mother and two brothers to Bucharest.

In September 1944, after the Red Army entered Bucharest, Leshchenko gave concerts in hospitals, military garrisons, and officers' clubs for Soviet soldiers. Vera Leshchenko also performed with him.

Arrest and death of Pyotr Leshchenko

On March 26, 1951, Leshchenko was arrested by the Romanian state security authorities during the intermission after the first part of the concert in the city of Brasov.

From Romanian sources it is known that Peter Leshchenko was in Zhilava from March 1951, then in July 1952 he was transferred to the distribution center in Capul Midia, from there on August 29, 1953 to Borgesti. On May 21 or 25, 1954 he was transferred to the Targu Ocna prison hospital. There he underwent surgery for an open stomach ulcer.

There is a protocol of the interrogation of Pyotr Leshchenko, from which it is clear that in July 1952, Pyotr Leshchenko was transported to Constanta (near Capul Midia) and interrogated as a witness in the case of Vera Belousova-Leshchenko, who was accused of treason.

According to the memoirs of Vera Belousova-Leshchenko, she was allowed only one date with her husband. Peter showed his black (from work or from beatings?) hands to his wife and said: “Faith! I am not to blame for anything, nothing!!!” They never met again.

The materials on Leshchenko’s case are still closed.

In the USSR, Pyotr Leshchenko was under an unspoken ban. His name was not mentioned in the Soviet media. During the years of perestroika they remembered him again. Recordings of songs performed by Leshchenko began to be heard on Soviet radio. Then programs and articles appeared about him. In 1988, the Melodiya company released the record “Pyotr Leshchenko Sings,” which became very popular.

Pyotr Leshchenko. My last tango

Peter Leshchenko's height: 172 centimeters.

Personal life of Peter Leshchenko:

Was married twice.

The first wife is the artist Zhenya (Zinaida) Zakitt, a native of Riga, Latvian. They got married in July 1926.

In January 1931, the couple had a son, Igor (Ikki) Leshchenko (Igor Petrovich Leshchenko) (1931-1978), choreographer of the Opera and Ballet Theater in Bucharest.

Second wife - Vera Belousova (married Leshchenko), musician, singer. We met in 1942 at one of the rehearsals. At that time she was a student at the Odessa Conservatory. They got married in May 1944.

Vera Belousova-Leshchenko was arrested in July 1952. She was accused of marrying a foreign national, which was qualified as treason (Article 58-1 “A” of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, criminal case No. 15641-p).

Vera Belousova-Leshchenko was sentenced to death on August 5, 1952, which was commuted to 25 years in prison, but was released in 1954: “Prisoner Belousova-Leshchenko was released with her criminal record cleared and travel to Odessa on July 12, 1954.”

Leshchenko's widow managed to obtain the only information from Romania: LESCENCO, PETRE. ARTIST. ARESTAT. A MURIT ON TIMPUL DETENIEI, LA. PENITENCIARUL TÂRGU OCNA. (LESHCHENKO, PETER. ARTIST. PRISONER. DIED WHILE STAYING IN TIRGU-OKNA PRISON).

Vera Leshchenko died in Moscow in 2009.

The image of Pyotr Leshchenko in the cinema:

The series was released in 2013 "Peter Leshchenko. All that has gone before..." directed by Vladimir Kott (script written by Eduard Volodarsky). The role of Pyotr Leshchenko was performed by Ivan Stebunov (Pyotr Leshchenko in his youth) and Konstantin Khabensky.

songs from the series "Peter Leshchenko. Everything that happened..."

Discography of Peter Leshchenko:

For guitar picking (romance, folk music);
Sing, gypsies (romance);
Confess to me (tango, music by Arthur Gold);
Sleep, my poor heart (tango, O. Strock and J. Altschuler);
Stay (tango, music by E. Hoenigsberg);
Miranda (tango, music by M. Maryanovsky);
Anikusha (tango, Claude Romano);
Mercy (“I forgive everything for love”, waltz, N. Vars);

Sashka (foxtrot, M. Halm);
I would love to love so much (tango, E. Sklyarov - N. Mikhailova);
Misha (foxtrot, G. Vilnov);
Boy (folk);
In the circus (household, N. Mirsky - Kolumbova - P. Leshchenko);
Near the Forest (gypsy waltz, Hoenigsberg-Hecker orchestra);
Ditties;
Andryusha (foxtrot, Z. Bialostotsky);
Troshka (household);
Who are you (slow fox, M. Maryanovsky);
Alyosha (foxtrot, J. Korologos);
My Friend (English Waltz, M. Halme);
Serenade (C. Sierra Leone);

March from the film “Jolly Fellows” (I. O. Dunaevsky, Ostrowsky);
Horses (foxtrot);
Ha-cha-cha (foxtrot, Werner Richard Heymann);
Tatiana (tango, M. Maryanovsky, Hoenigsberg Orchestra);
Nastenka (foxtrot, Trajan Cornea);
Cry, Gypsy (romance);
You're driving drunk (romance);
Mother's Heart (tango, music by Z. Karasiński and Sz. Kataszek);
Caucasus (oriental foxtrot, music by M. Maryanovsky);
Musenka (tango, words and music by Oscar Strok);
Dunya (“Pancakes”, foxtrot, music by M. Maryanovsky);
Forget you (tango, S. Shapirov);
Let's say goodbye (tango romance);
Capricious, stubborn (romance, Alexander Koshevsky);
My Marusechka (foxtrot, G. Vilnov);
Gloomy Sunday (Hungarian song, Rézső Szeres);
Rhapsody in Blue (slow fox, Oscar Strock);


Foggy at heart (E. Sklyarov, Nadya Kushnir);
March from the film “Circus” (I. O. Dunaevsky, V. I. Lebedev-Kumach);
Don't leave (tango, O. Strock);

Ancient waltz (words and music by N. Listov);
Glasses (words by G. Gridov, music by B. Prozorovsky);
Captain;
Sing to us, wind (songs from the film “Children of Captain Grant”, I. O. Dunaevsky - V. I. Lebedev-Kumach);
How good;
Ring (romances, Olga Frank - Sergey Frank, arr. J. Azbukin);
Vanka dear;
Nastya sells berries (foxtrots, music and words by M. Maryanovsky);
Blue Eyes (tango, lyrics and music by Oscar Stroke);
Wine of Love (tango, words and music by Mark Maryanovsky);
Black Eyes (tango, words and music by Oscar Stroke);
Stanochek (folk song, lyrics by Timofeev, music by Boris Prozorovsky);

Gypsy life (camp life, music by D. Pokrass);
A glass of vodka (foxtrot on a Russian motif, words and music by M. Maryanovsky);
The song flows (gypsy nomadic, words by M. Lakhtin, music by V. Kruchinin);
Chubchik (folk);
Farewell, my camp;

Buran (camp);
Marfusha (foxtrot, Mark Maryanovsky);
You've returned again (tango);
At the samovar (foxtrot, N. Gordonoi);
My Last Tango (Oscar Stroke);
You and this guitar (tango, music by E. Petersburgsky, Russian text by Rotinovsky);
Boring (tango, Sasa Vlady);
Farewell, my camp (Russian gypsy song);
Chubchik (Russian folk song);
Buran (camp);
Bessarabyanka (folk motif);
Gypsy life (camp life, music by D. Pokrass);
What sorrow is mine (gypsy romance);
A song flows (gypsy nomadic, lyrics by M. Lakhtin, music by V. Kruchinin);
Stanochek (folk song, lyrics by Timofeev, music by B. Prozorovsky);
Boring (tango);
You and this guitar (tango);
My last tango;
At the samovar (foxtrot);
Marfusha (foxtrot);
You've returned again (tango);
Near the forest;
Black eyes;
My friend (waltz, Max Halm);
Serenade (C. Sierra Leone);
Don't go (tango, E. Sklyarov);
Sashka (foxtrot, M. Halm);
My Marusechka (foxtrot, G. Villnow);
Let's say goodbye (tango);
Ring;
How good (romances, Olga Frank - Sergei Frank, arr. J. Azbukin);
Confess to me (tango, Arthur Gold);
You're driving drunk (romance);
Heart (tango, I. O. Dunaevsky, arrangement F. Salabert - Ostrowsky);
March of Cheerful Children (I. O. Dunaevsky, Ostrowsky);
Wine of love (tango, M. Maryanovsky);
Blue Eyes (tango, Oscar Strock);
Dear Musenka (tango, Oscar Strok);
Dunya (“Pancakes”, foxtrot, M. Maryanovsky);
Caucasus (foxtrot, M. Maryanovsky);
Tatiana (tango, M. Maryanovsky);
Vanya (foxtrot, Shapirov - Leshchenko - Fedotov);
Don't Leave (tango, Oscar Strok);
Miranda (tango, M. Maryanovsky);
Stay (tango, E. Hoenigsberg);
Komarik (Ukrainian folk song);
Karii Ochi (Ukrainian song);
Hey, guitar friend!;
Capricious;
Foggy at heart;
Andryusha;
Bellochka;
All that has gone before;
The song flows;
Barcelona;
Nastya;
Marfusha;
Come back;
Near the forest, by the river;
Guitar Song;
Blue handkerchief (sung by Vera Leshchenko);
Dark night;
Mom (sung by Vera Leshchenko);
Natasha;
Nadya-Nadechka. Beloved (duet with Vera Leshchenko);
My Marusechka;
Heart;
Tramp;
Black braids;
Black eyes;
Andryusha;
Kate;
Student;
Parsley;
Mom's heart;
Horses;
Sasha;
A glass of vodka;
Don't go;
Marfusha;
Listen to what I say;
Evening call, evening Bell;
The bell rings loudly

Life path Soviet singer and dancer Pyotr Leshchenko turned out to be bright, rich, but not too long. A stingy fate gave him only 56 years, a significant part of which fell during both world wars and the difficult post-war years. Despite this, Peter Leshchenko managed to become famous for his wealth creative heritage and many legends about yourself.

More questions than answers

In July 1954, a man died in the prison hospital in Targu Ocna. Fans of the work of Pyotr Leshchenko would hardly recognize in this beaten man, exhausted by torture and hunger, their idol, who was applauded by Europe for his unique performance of the songs “Black Eyes”, “My Marusechka”, “Curly-haired forelock” and others.

The exact place where the “sweet-voiced nightingale” is buried is still unknown. Also, no one knows for sure why the popular pre-war performer died: from an open stomach ulcer, poisoning or beating. Together with Peter Konstantinovich, other secrets also disappeared into oblivion.

Either an Odessa resident or a Moldovan

Biographers even find it difficult to name the exact place of birth future star stage. All that is known for sure is that Peter spent his childhood in Chisinau. The family lived modestly, if not poorly. Petya and his half-sisters were raised by their mother and stepfather. But the street became the boy’s main teacher. Here he sang for the first time for a crowd, collecting money in a dusty hat.

He did this out of annoyance at the priest, who did not give Petya, who was guilty of something, another meager “salary” for singing in the church choir. Thanks to his soulful voice, the boy earned almost as much in a day as he did in a month in church. Leshchenko is expelled from the choir for his impudent act, but this does not bother him.

Peter already understands that his singing touches the souls and hearts of people. Friendship with gypsies, gatherings around a fire on the river bank, first lessons in playing the guitar - and gypsy romances will become firmly established in the life and work of the famous chansonnier. He performed them in a particularly masterly, passionate, inspired way.

A dancer is no worse than a singer

Participation in the First World War cost the 19-year-old warrant officer Leshchenko a serious injury. The long recovery in the Chisinau hospital ended after the October Revolution, so Peter returned home as a citizen of Romania.

He made a living in different ways. He was a turner, sang in church and cemetery choirs, and was a soloist in a vocal quartet and opera. Leshchenko went on tour as part of various pop groups.

Once in Paris, he did not miss the opportunity to graduate from Vera Trefilova’s ballet school. Here he met his first wife, Zinaida Zakitt. Their dancing couple performed successfully in restaurants in Europe and the Middle East until Zina became pregnant. The only son will be named Igor, but that will happen later. Now Peter needs to decide what to do next. And he decides to sing again.

The triumph of Europe's new idol

First solo concert Leshchenko gives in Chisinau. Soon, in addition to his own, simple but charming songs, compositions from venerable authors of that time appeared in his repertoire. Tours in Paris, Berlin, London, Riga, Belgrade. Hits in Russian, Romanian, English and French. Huge circulations of records. It was a stunning success and rapid wealth.

Using his own funds, the “king of romances” opened his own restaurant, “U Leshchenko,” where he performed and where, without regret, he invested a lot of money. Even the Romanian royal couple admires the singing of the “sweet-voiced nightingale,” but little is known about it in the USSR. A successful emigrant is not written about in newspapers, and after World War II, the popularization of his work will become a criminal offense.

Despite this, already at the end of the 1930s, the performer’s romances were secretly listened to in many Soviet apartments. Leshchenko dreams of going to his homeland, and in 1942 he goes on tour to Nazi-occupied Odessa. There he will meet his last love and his second wife Vera Belousova, a conservatory student who is 25 years younger than the famous singer.

Traitor or spy

In Odessa, the enterprising singer not only gives concerts, but also opens another restaurant of his own. In the midst of war, only the German occupiers, therefore Leshchenko quickly earns a negative reputation among Soviet citizens and state security agencies. Almost 10 years later, for some reason he will be called a foreign spy.

An appeal to Joseph Stalin about returning to the USSR will only aggravate the situation of Pyotr Konstantinovich and will ensure close attention to his person. Thought about visiting Soviet Union turns into a fixed idea.

In the early 1950s, Leshchenko receives approval, but does not have time to make the trip. During the next concert, Romanian police take him away for interrogation by representatives of the Soviet secret services.

The popular singer was taken to different prisons for 3 years, from where he never returned. Not underground, but official records with songs by Pyotr Leshchenko began to appear in the USSR only during the era of perestroika. The voice of the “king of romances” sounded again in his homeland, as the talented performer once dreamed of.

Another famous person of that time is.